Dear friends — Last Tuesday, I spoke at the New York Public Library (my holy of…

Last Tuesday, I spoke at the New York Public Library (my holy of holies) with my friend the novelist Ann Patchett.

They had an illustrator at the event, who sketched these pictures of us, along with quotes from our conversation — so lovely….thought you might enjoy.

I especially love Ann's statement that we must write the book that we miss, that we ourselves long to read. That is, I think, the very heart and bones of creativity — to make by hand the thing that you feel empty without, the thing that you feel the world is lacking. You see the void and you fill it…